Re: Please add RDF term checking operators to sparql

On Tue, 2005-01-25 at 16:13 +0000, Dave Beckett wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 08:49:03 -0600, Dan Connolly <connolly@w3.org> wrote:
> 
> > On Tue, 2005-01-25 at 10:36 +0000, Dave Beckett wrote:
> > > I think these would be useful operators for value testing of SPARQL
> > > RDF Terms, to go along with lang() and dtype()* operating on
> > > literal terms.
> > 
> > Hmmm... these make me uneasy about use/mention issues.
> > It seems to me that functions should take as input
> > the denotation of the terms, not the syntax of the terms.
> > 
> > In C, you can't write a function
> > 
> >   int lastDigitIsZero(float arg){ ... }
> > 
> > because when it's called, it will see the same
> > value in both cases:
> > 
> >   firstDigitIsZero(23.010)
> > and
> >   firstDigitIsZero(23.01)
> 
> that's because C has types known only at compile time.
> 
> In python you can write such a function since a variable's type
> is made at runtime (only made at runtime?  I'm not sure)

This is not about when types are known; it's about use vs mention;
i.e. terms versus their denotation.

> >>> foo=23.010
> >>> type(foo)
> <type 'float'>
> >>> str(foo)[0]
> '2'

I meant _last_ digit. (I changed my example while I was drafting it).

> and checking the types at run time
> 
> if foo is float:
>   # do something
> else:
>   # else not
> 
> I'm asking for 'is float' functionality for the three types of RDF Term
> that matter, literal, URI and blank node.

No, I don't think you are. I think you want a function
that always returns false for isLiteral(<w3cstats#name>)
even if <w3cstats#age> denotes the same thing that "W3C"
denotes.


> It's equivalent here since you can't tell the type of the RDF term
> that will bind when you ask the question.  This functionality is
> needed in order to find that out in the constraints, in order to ask
> make further queries.
> 
> So AND lang(?x) = "fr"
> might cause a type error or fail or warn if ?x isn't a literal
> 
> wheras
>    AND isliteral(?x) && lang(?x) = "fr"
> might be ok
> 
> 
> 
> > This is what makes me uneasy about the str() function;
> > I'd rather that str(<http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#Literal>)
> > be specified to relate class to a string, not a URI to a string.
> 
> I can't grok that.

Use versus mention. The subject of "Mary hit the ball" is
either a 4 letter word starting with M or a female person.

> 
> > Consider a service that offers queries over the
> > OWL closure of...
> > 
> >   <orglist#w3c> cyc:age [ :inYears <w3cstats#ageInYears>].
> >   <w3cstats#ageInYears> owl:sameAs 10.
> > 
> > and a query...
> > 
> >   SELECT ?ORG, ?QTY
> >   WHERE (?ORG cyc:age ?DUR)
> >          (?DUR :inYears ?QTY)
> >    AND ?QTY > 5.
> > 
> > Hmm... I don't think this example makes my point, because
> > the OWL closure will include
> > 
> >   <orglist#w3c> cyc:age [ :inYears 12].
> > 
> > I have been uneasy about this for some time, but I can't seem
> > to construct an example that makes the point sharply, so
> > maybe there is no issue. But I'm still worried.
> > 
> > And yes, my worry applies to dtype() and lang() as well.
> > 
> > > 
> > > I propose adding to 10.2 10.2 Value Testing / RDF Types
> > >   http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/DataAccess/rq23/#sparqlTests
> > > 
> > > possibly a new section or could be in one of the existing ones:
> > > 
> > > 10.2.3 SPARQL Operations on RDF Terms
> > > 
> > > The following table provides operations to test if an expression is
> > > one of the three RDF Terms[#href to definition in section 2.2].
> > > 
> > > Operator: isblank(arg)
> > > Meaning: Tests if the expression is an RDF blank node
> > >                 ( http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-concepts/#dfn-blank-node )
> > > Return: xsd:boolean
> > >   isblank(_:a)       => true
> > >   isblank(<uri>)     => false
> > >   isblank("literal") => false
> > > 
> > > Operator: isuri(arg)
> > > Meaning: Tests if the expression is an RDF URI Reference 
> > >               ( http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-concepts/#dfn-URI-reference )
> > > Return: xsd:boolean
> > >   isuri(<uri>)     => true
> > >   isuri(_:blank)   => false
> > >   isuri("literal") => false
> > > 
> > >   [ could be isresource() but then they are all RDF resources
> > 
> > Well, they all denote resources. And if you consider terms
> > to be resources, then yes, they're resources. But I think
> > you made a use/mention think-o there.
> 
> Possibly.  How would you protect a query from doing operations on
> variables bound to RDF literals or blank nodes or URIs, that were
> invalid for one or all of them?   Such as trying to do
> lang() or a string equals operation on a variable bound to a URI?

I don't think of queries doing operations. I think of there
being solutions to queries. Either there is a solution that
satisfies the lang() constraint or there isn't.

> 
> Dave
-- 
Dan Connolly, W3C http://www.w3.org/People/Connolly/
D3C2 887B 0F92 6005 C541  0875 0F91 96DE 6E52 C29E

Received on Tuesday, 25 January 2005 16:36:41 UTC